This Bill, Sir, may be described as the complement of the Slievardagh Bill which was recently passed by the Oireachtas, and which is now an Act. That Act was passed for the purpose of setting up machinery for the development of our coal deposits. The purpose of the present Bill is to secure that other mineral deposits shall be developed also. The two Bills have many features in common, and the same set of circumstances may be said to have called them into existence: that is to say, the necessity for turning to account such mineral resources as we possess, and the slowness—perhaps I might even say the failure—of private enterprise to develop them effectively and efficiently. In form, this Bill is similar to the Slievardagh Bill. Mutatis mutandis, the provisions of Part I of this Bill follow very closely the provisions of that measure. As in the case of Slievardagh, the Minister for Industry and Commerce is being authorised under this Bill to register a company under `the Companies Acts, and he is being authorised to do that for the same reason as obtained in the case of the Slievardagh development— that is to say, that the work to be done could not be done, effectively at any rate, through the ordinary machinery of the Civil Service. The share capital of the proposed mining company, like the coal company, will be for a nominal amount only. The further moneys needed by the mining company will be provided by way of repayable advances, which was also the procedure adopted for the Slievardagh project. The amount of advances is likewise limited. In the case of Slievardagh, the limit was £100,000. In the case of the present company it is £50,000 only. The sums needed from time to time for advances will be borne on the Vote for Industry and Commerce. This course will give the Oireachtas a periodical opportunity to discuss the affairs of the company and the manner in which it is fulfilling the purpose for which it is being established.
The task which will be entrusted to the company is, broadly, the task of ascertaining what mineral deposits in Ireland are worth developing, and, in certain cases, of making arrangements to work such deposits. We cannot say precisely at the moment what we possess in the way of minerals, or whether such mineral deposits as we have here are of appreciable value. It is true that mining surveys have been made on behalf of the State, or by private individuals, of certain of our deposits, such as the coal and iron deposits at Arigna, the coal deposits at Slievardagh, and the gypsum deposit at Kingscourt, but about the generality of our mineral resources our knowledge is limited to the surmises which we may base on certain recorded indications of the geological structure of our country. These indications manifest the presence of certain minerals. They tell us of their existence, but we know very little about their extent or accessibility. Our knowledge is so limited that nobody can tell whether they are there in great measure or in small, or whether, in fact, they are worth developing at all. Neither, I should emphasise, can anybody say that they are not worth developing.
The primary task, therefore, to be undertaken by this company is to examine the deposits which have not, as yet, been examined, to report to the Minister which of them seems to be capable of economic exploitation and, possibly, to commence the work of exploitation. I am sure that it will be generally conceded that any mineral deposits in Ireland which can be worked with profit should be worked. Personally, I should go further and say that any mineral property which is capable of being worked in such a way that the enterprise will pay its way should be examined and developed.
An idea has gained currency that there are no minerals in Ireland worth developing. That is a view which, I submit, should not be accepted without searching investigation. I do not know how far that may be from the truth, but it may be as far from the truth as the idea that the country is exceptionally rich in mineral resources. It will be the task of the company to be formed under this Bill to undertake, or to cause to be undertaken on its behalf, the investigations which will eventually lead to the elucidation of the true position in this matter. In the meantime, we should bear in mind the probability that the idea that there are no deposits in Ireland capable of economic exploitation had its origin in the fact that the many mining enterprises which flourished in Ireland in the early part of the last century have faded out of existence. We ought to remember in that connection that mining technique has advanced considerably within the last half century. New methods for the treatment of ores have been evolved. Lodes, which were regarded as worthless some years ago, can now be worked at a profit. Indeed I might point out that one of the factors responsible for the abandonment of some of the Irish mineral enterprises was the difficulty in former years of separating mixed minerals of close specific gravity. Hence, deposits of disseminated sulphides of copper, lead, zinc, and iron with barytes were exploited for lead and the remainder abandoned. That was so in the case of the Avoca deposits and the Glendalough deposits. Such ores can now be worked profitably to provide a four or five product recovery by selective flotation—a process which has been developed very considerably within the last two decades. Thus there is a possibility that some of our abandoned mines may still have productive lodes of low-grade mineral, and may still hold extensive bodies of part-developed ore which, though quite unprofitable with low metal prices and simple gravity concentration, may now have quite a different value, if worked under modern organisation with new systems of mineral separation.
In this regard I put the matter no higher than to say that there may be a possibility that self-supporting mineral enterprises can be established in Ireland. That possibility, however slight, the State, particularly in present circumstances, cannot afford to neglect, and, therefore, is bound I think to take the risks involved in proving it or not. Even if it happens that the results of the prospecting which it is proposed that this company should undertake turn out to be disappointing, the money sunk in the prospecting will not, in my opinion, have been spent foolishly. We shall at least have cleared up this matter once and for all, and the information acquired, even if unfavourable, will at least prevent the loss of larger sums in later years. If, on the other hand, two or three successful mines are started, the enactment of this Bill and the expenditure of the moneys which the Dáil will be asked to provide for its administration will be justified, in my view, many times over.
But the task of the company will not be confined to the examination and development of deposits which are now lying dormant. The provisions of Part III of the Bill empower the Minister for Industry and Commerce to take over as a going concern on behalf of the company mining enterprises for the purpose of obtaining adequate quantities of commodities which are essential to the life of the community. The impossibility of getting from abroad at the present time many minerals which were imported freely in the past makes it absolutely necessary to look for substitutes for those materials here in Ireland. If the substitutes are in the hands of private persons, and if, for any cause, supplies of them are not being delivered in the quantities needed, it is, I submit, the clear duty of the State in present circumstances to intervene. Such properties as, under the provisions of Part III, may be taken over from private persons in whose hands they now are, will be handed for development to the new company.
The dispossessed owners of those properties will, of course, be entitled to compensation, but there are in the Bill clauses setting out how the amount of that compensation is to be arrived at. In default of agreement it will be fixed by the Mining Board set up under the Minerals Development Act of 1940. The powers given to the Minister under Part III of the Bill are admittedly wide. They are necessary, however, if the purpose of the Bill is to be achieved, and the powers given to the Minister to acquire going concerns are hedged round, I think, with enough safeguards to satisfy even the most conservative among us. The Minister's powers are strictly circumscribed. The only businesses which he will be authorised to acquire are businesses engaged in the production of commodities essential to the life of the community, and then only when those commodities are not being produced in the quantities needed by the community.
Another point to remember is that circumstances to-day are not normal. At the present time they are such that the State will have to do many things which it would hesitate to do in normal times. In normal times, for instance, there is seldom necessity or justification for interfering with the way the private individual manages his own property. His interests and the interests of the State and of the community as a whole can coincide in a large measure. In times of crisis, however, like the present, the private individual may move more slowly than the interests of the community demand, and personal rights and personal privileges cannot be protected beyond the point where they can be reconciled with the good of the community. I do not think there is much need for me to elaborate this point. We have had one or two precedents illustrating it within the past 18 months or so. Indeed, ever since the outbreak of the present European War the farmers, for instance, have not been permitted to do as they like with the land which they own. They are being compelled to put portion of it under tillage.
Recently, the county councils and other local authorities were empowered to acquire turf banks which were not being worked. We could even find a precedent for the provisions in this Bill dating back prior to the war. The Act under which the Electricity Supply Board was set up, for instance, authorised that board to acquire as going concerns small electricity undertakings which were being carried on with profit throughout the country, but which it was felt the common good required should be merged in the larger undertaking. Therefore, while I admit that the powers which it is sought to confer under Part III of this Bill are drastic, they are not unprecedented, and I do not think they are any more than the circumstances of the times demand.
